Professional mixed martial artist Fallon Fox has been forced out of the closet as a transsexual woman.

Fox transitioned ten years ago, but only after enduring ex-gay conversion therapy at the behest of her father who maintained that she was simply a confused gay man. The therapist tried to convince Fox she was a gay man so he could in effect turn her into a straight man.

She began hormone therapy as soon as her therapy sessions ended and six years ago she had gender reassignment surgery. Since then she’s taken up MMA fighting, which she describes as her reason for getting up in the morning. However, that reason became threatened after a call from a reporter who had found out her secret.

“For years I’ve known at some point it’s very likely the shoe would drop,” Fox told Outsports. “Maybe someone would guess that I’m trans. Maybe they would know me from my life before I transitioned. I’ve been waiting for that phone call to happen. And Saturday night, it happened.”

The reporter called her during a victory dinner, asking questions about her past, and within 48 hours her former trainer called after being contacted by the same reporter. On Monday, Fox revealed to Sports Illustrated what she’s been afraid to for the past few years: that she is a trans woman.

Fox has been a dominant fighter in the ring, having recently won her second professional bout with a 39-second knockout, but her next fight in Coral Gables, FL is up in the air due to some interstate red tape. Her license approval — issued in California — is under investigation with Florida’s Dept. of Business and Professional Regulation.

Fox did not disclose her transgender status because she was not asked to and the Florida State Boxing Commission “is in the process of updating the rules for professional MMA events.”

Fox tells Outsports that despite being born in a male body, she doesn’t have some unfair advantage over her opponents:

“With a little more education,” she said, “they might be able to see that they’re wrong. I’m not the only one who’s been dominant.”

She argues that after 10 years of hormone therapy, and six years after gender-reassignment surgery, any advantage she had from being born in a male body have been erased. She is even recognized by the State of Illinois as female on her driver license.

Though she has not spoken to her parents in almost two yerars, Fox at least still has her manager, Brett Atchley, in her corner.

“She’s gone through this process and it’s been more of a challenge, and it’s taken more of a commitment, than anyone she steps into the cage with,” Atchley said. “It doesn’t matter to me. What matters to me is that she was strong enough and trusted me enough to tell me.”

Fallon Fox is the subject of an upcoming documentary, a preview of which can be seen below:

She is very courageous, coming out in a sport as hyper-masculine as MMA. I can’t even imagine how difficult her life has been. I just hope that she can still have her “reason for getting up in the morning.”

Mar 6, 2013 at 5:26 pm · @Reply ·

Dixie Rect

I thought Queerty was ‘free of the agenda, except the gay one’? If it is, then why are there endless trans news articles? They should have a separate blog.

Mar 6, 2013 at 6:34 pm · @Reply ·

Thedrdonna

@Dixie Rect: I thought the blog’s name was “Queer”ty? Which is a blanket term encompassing the whole lgbtqetc? I feel terrible for you, that you have to put up with like one trans article a day among the other 15-20 about purely LGb stuff. Maybe you should try to gain some perspective.

Mar 6, 2013 at 6:55 pm · @Reply ·

Fitz

Oh well, so much for women, huh? If people who grow up with testosterone
giving them big muscles, fast reflexes and dense bones can not compete against them,
I guess women can kiss professional sports goodbye. That’s ok– fuck women, cuz
it hurts someone’s feelings when they can’t compete against them.

Mar 6, 2013 at 10:49 pm · @Reply ·

Thedrdonna

@Fitz:Actually, women have better reflexes, generally speaking. And once a trans woman has been on hormones for a couple years, their muscles are no stronger than any other woman’s. Given that she’s still using them with the same male bone structure, her strength will be lower because she uses a portion of it just to move her outsized skeleton around. A larger skeleton is a liability in this scenario, not an advantage.

Mar 6, 2013 at 11:29 pm · @Reply ·

sweetbrandigirl2004

@Fitz: Actually Fitz…………..Thedonne was only half correct Hormone Replacement Therapy alone “Will Not Reduce male muscle mass” it also requires Gender Reassignment Surgery to remove the the Testosterone. This is the biggest contributor to the lose of male muscle mass. Estrogen does Nothing to remove testosterone and Testosterone blocking hormones like Spirolactone do little to reduce muscle mass as thats not their function they strictly block DHT which helps prevent the creation of muscle but does little to reduce it. True muscle reduction requires Removal of the tsetse. So in thory one could have Orchie surgery alone to remove testosterone ,but yet one still would not meet the requirements to compete in female athletics since one technically would still be male.Only “complete” GRS surgery changes one gender and thus qualifies one to participate in female athletics or beauty pageants or any other female sanctioned event….I’m OK with things remaining that way, for I feel for one to be allowed to compete in female sanctioned sports one must truly be female and create an equal and level playing field for all involved.

Mar 7, 2013 at 9:22 am · @Reply ·

Fitz

I don’t hate women and girls as much as you do. I want them to have a fair shot.

Mar 7, 2013 at 9:56 am · @Reply ·

Thedrdonna

@sweetbrandigirl2004: I’m curious where you got your info. Using an anti-androgen such as spiro should have exactly the same effect as removal of the testes, the one difference being that prior to removal if the trans woman stops taking her hormones then testosterone productions begins again. I cannot imagine why the simple presence of testes (especially those rendered sterile and shrunken by years on hormones) would keep muscle mass from diminishing.

@Thedrdonna: Qty is definitely heavy on the trans posts and the drag posts. That said, I don’t agree at all with Dixie Rect. Trans folks are equally part of the Queer community and belong here.

Mar 7, 2013 at 12:16 pm · @Reply ·

gsingjane

As the mother of biological females who compete, as such, in athletics against other females, I have somewhat mixed feelings about this. Part of me does feel like, a person like Fallon might have an unfair advantage based on her former biology. (Certainly I do not see musculature like Fallon’s in the gym on any other women.) However, Fallon does seem to want to compete in good faith and strikes me as a sincere person who has gone through a great deal, and who isn’t trying to “put one over” on the other women. It’s also likely, as the clip says, that sustained hormone treatment has negated most of the initial advantage that Fallon might have brought to the table.

I guess if Fallon were my daughter and this is what she really wanted to do, I’d say “more power to her.”

Mar 7, 2013 at 1:14 pm · @Reply ·

darkorient

She should’ve told them about her situation. No matter what, it’s still unfair for the female athletes she has fought with.

Mar 7, 2013 at 1:37 pm · @Reply ·

Thedrdonna

@darkorient: Can you explain why it is unfair? Using facts? She told the relevant licensing authorities, but beyond that she has no reason to inform anyone else, because it isn’t important. You might want to read this, from Sports Illustrated:http://m.si.com/2108229/uncharted-territory/

Mar 7, 2013 at 3:06 pm · @Reply ·

2eo

@Thedrdonna: I don’t think you’ll be getting a reply Thed, darkorient was registered to the same IP as Fitz. They are the same person.

Mar 7, 2013 at 7:16 pm · @Reply ·

darkorient

@Thedrdonna Simply because her opponents also have the right to know who they are fighting against.

@2eo I don’t know who Fitz is but one thing for sure you are an ass. Who are you to make false accusations?

Mar 8, 2013 at 1:46 pm · @Reply ·

Thedrdonna

@darkorient: Could you explain what you mean by that? The phrasing would seem to imply that they are at some disadvantage due to that lack of knowledge, or due to her trans status. Both of those aren’t true, especially the latter, which has been determined by scientists and a rising number of sports organizations (NCAA, WPGA, IOC, to name a few). It sounds as though the licensing legs for the MMA are also preparing to come up wih their own set of rules regarding trans folks competing, and I would be astounded if they were so restrictive that someone who transitioned a decade ago couldn’t compete.

Mar 9, 2013 at 12:59 pm · @Reply ·

scahalan

I have to disagree with most of this. As a person you have every right to choose how and the sex you want to live your life as. That is not my issue. Fallen was born a man. To me this means that this person is simply by genetics and dna make up, much stronger than a woman and fighting women in the mma is unfair. Just because you changed your sex or are taking hormones does not change the fact that your still genetically stronger than women. Frankly if you want a fair fight…you should be fighting men. If you have a strong desire to just beat the hell out of women then you could have become a cop.

Mar 9, 2013 at 4:41 pm · @Reply ·

Thedrdonna

@scahalan: Actually, it does mean that. Muscles are testosterone dependent, and by taking hormones she’s changed her muscles to at or below female normal. If you want an example of why genes alone don’t determine much of anything, check out “CAIS women”.

Mar 10, 2013 at 11:40 am · @Reply ·

darkorient

@Thedrdonna: So they are informed about who they are fighting against? Then I stand corrected.

Mar 10, 2013 at 12:37 pm · @Reply ·

Thedrdonna

@darkorient: They have all of the pertinent information on who they’re fighting against. She didn’t wear a bag over her head. They also haven’t been informed of her dental history, or how many times she got the cold in elementary school, but those would also be filed under “not pertinent”.

Mar 11, 2013 at 1:10 am · @Reply ·

scahalan

@Thedrdonna: I still do not agree. A change in testosterone levels didn’t change her videos much. As a woman I would want to know that I was fighting a man with a vagina. As a person that underwent a sex change I would want the people to know and I would personally prefer to challenge myself honestly and fight men.

Mar 13, 2013 at 9:39 am · @Reply ·

scahalan

Also consider bone mass, stature, agility and speed. This is a man thathas figured out a way to beat the hell out of women legally. I’m questioning what’s going on in fallens mind. You can’t honestly believe he doesn’t have an advantage due to previously being a man.